


All the Cool Kids are Doing It

by AmazonX



Series: All the Cool Kids Are Doing It! [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awkward questions, Bucky has an attitude, Darcy is a bamf, F/M, Gen, Steve is a dancing queen, don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing, lessons in life from surprising places
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-18 18:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1438609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazonX/pseuds/AmazonX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a group of ficlets, I guess. Everyone else does it. And sometimes, some little thing flies through my head, so I will be sharing them more.</p><p>Ch 9: Captain Caveman</p><p>Steve gets a little...jealous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Word Vomit

**Author's Note:**

> I'll add chapters as necessary. I'm amazon-x at Tumblr, so feel free to "ask" me for prompts there, if you want to see anything. Nothing is beta-ed, so if there are mistakes, well, deal.

“I will never get used to young ladies just saying anything they like,” Steve mused, then grabbed his water bottle and left the kitchen. Clint just shook his head and smiled.

“What, birdbrain? What did I say?” Darcy asked.

“Really? You can’t just ask people about their bodily functions, Lil Bit. At least, not unless you’re nailing them and have to deal with it.”

“Oh, right, like you have the best relationship advice.”

“Kid, look, he’s not like you. He didn’t grow up where ladies just said whatever they wanted. Long time ago, people paid attention to manners…”

“That’s bullshit! He grew up in Brooklyn, OK? During the Roaring Twenties and the Dirty Thirties and he was at war in Europe! Don’t lecture me about manners!”

“OK, calm down. I’m not lecturing you. But tune in to this, people used manners once upon a time…”

“Oh, I know. My mother hammered them into me! Forks on the left, napkin in your lap, elbows off the table, clear your throat to get someone’s attention…”

“Stop!” Clint finally shouted. The verbal battle was going nowhere. “Look, manners, once upon a time, were used not to make people feel bad, but to make sure everyone knew how to act. If you were with a woman, and you didn’t want her to think you were a creep, you acted a certain way. And to make sure you knew how to make your guests feel welcome, there were rules. Not to punish people, but to make them more comfortable. So everyone knew what to expect. This is why everyone’s all getting it wrong so much. No one knows how to act anymore. And so nobody cares.”

“I…uh…didn’t think that."

“Well, start."

"Wait, how do you know all this crap?”

"SHIELD spy classes. Have to be prepared for any situation. Now go tell Captain America you shouldn’t have asked if four times as much came out since four times as much food went in. Jeez, Darce, what makes you think these things?”

“I work with three scientists and Bruce and Betty go on about biology all the time. I just wondered.”

“Well, stop wondering. And go apologize.”

Darcy just nodded and left the common kitchen. “J-man, where is Captain Angry?” she asked the thin air.

“Captain Rogers is currently in his suite, using his computer.”

“Thank you.”

Darcy went down the spiral stairs one floor to Steve’s suite and took a deep breath for courage before she knocked. There was no sound from inside. Darcy counted the seconds until she reached a minute, then knocked again, and said, “Steve, can I talk to you?”

A few seconds later the door open and a blank-faced Steve Rogers stood in his doorway. “Can I help you?”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking…”

Steve’s face softened and he held his hand up to stop her. He opened his door wider and stepped aside to allow her in. He closed the door gently. “I gotta admit, I was shocked. But if you want to know anything about me, you can ask. But let’s do it in private. OK?”

“Um, yes, really, I’m sorry.”

“OK, so, my body is really efficient…”

“Steve…I don’t really wanna know.”

They smiled at each other and laughed.


	2. Coffee Calamity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is disrupting travel through one of the busiest transportation hubs in New York City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this hit me this morning, that I would totally walk through Grand Central Terminal in my pajamas and slippers to go down and get coffee from Grumpy Cafe. Wouldn't Darcy? And yeah, you can't let Pepper get yelled at for it, though.

The mumblings from the lounge on the common floor was starting to get loud. Steve was standing by the side counter, waiting for his waffles to finish in the waffle iron. He had four scrambled eggs and six strips of bacon waiting to go between them. It was a breakfast sandwich Darcy had taught him and it was the best thing on earth, until she made him another “latch-key-kid sandwich.” That was a term he needed to look up.

When the waffles were ready, Steve made his sandwich and sat at the kitchen table, a raised stainless steel affair that needed bar stools for seating. He liked sitting in the kitchen, wearing well-fitted jeans and a blue t-shirt, bare feet since Darcy said he had cute feet. He just didn’t like the sound of the shouting coming from the lounge, but hearing Darcy’s voice get louder and louder, shriller and shriller was beginning to become troubling. Then it abruptly came to an end.

“I can’t talk to you like this,” Jane said, walking into the room, past Steve to get a mug. She tried to open a teabag for her cup but she proceeded to tear the bag and get tea everywhere. “Goddamit, Darcy!”

“Don’t blame that on me,” Darcy said, coming in to sit beside Steve and put her head on his shoulder. He leaned into her, kissed her brow and used his shoulder to squeeze her face. “Steve, make Jane stop yelling at me.”

“Yeah, what’s going on? Why all the yelling?” Steve asked, then took another bite of his sandwich before he held it out to Darcy to take a bite. She sipped from a paper coffee cup that had a brown sleeve with a drawing of an angry face on it.

“Steve, maybe you can get Darcy to listen. The owner of Grand Central called Pepper and yelled at her. Pepper, of course, called me to ask me politely to tell Darcy to stop wandering into the terminal in her pajamas into the Grumpy Café for her morning coffee. They at least wanted her to put a coat on over her clothing. She even wears just her elephant slippers. Please make her stop.”

Jane left the kitchen. Steve put his sandwich back on his plate, and took a deep breath. Darcy sat up and took a long drink from her coffee. Her pajamas this morning were truly adorable, light blue flannel with big clouds on the button-front top and long pants. Each cloud had a different colored fairy on it doing something cute, like napping or painting her nails. Darcy loved things like that.

“So, you scandalizing the commuters in your night clothes, Miss Lewis?” Steve asked, nudging her with his shoulder.

“I need my coffee,” was all she said.

“But we have a coffee machine in each of our suites. Not to mention this super-duper ice cream pooper thing over there on the counter.” Steve pointed to the high-tech one-cup coffee maker Tony had built for the ease of getting caffeine at all times of the day and night.

“But it’s not Grumpy coffee.”

She showed him the face drawn on her cup sleeve. It was adorable. And it wasn’t Starbucks, who Darcy had complained had gotten too commercial and lost quality in the actual product to meet the high demand.

“Yeah, but if people are yelling at Pepper, you can’t let that happen. Pepper’s the nicest lady in the world, and she loves you.”

“I know. OK, so how do I get my grump juice without making everyone all embarrassed by my jammies?”

“Let me handle it, OK?”

The next morning, after Steve went for his 20 mile run at the crack of dawn, took his shower and got dressed, he made his way down to Grand Central to the café where he got two cups of their premium roast coffee, doctored Darcy’s the way she liked with lots of cream and raw sugar, and then started back up to the tower via the connected escalators. People were snapping photos of him as they made their way from trains to the subway, tourists were pointing, and all work had come to a standstill in the GCT Apple Store Genius Bar as Captain America carried coffee up into the Avengers’ Tower.

JARVIS held a dedicated elevator and opened the doors for Steve as he carried the two cups in a cardboard holder to Darcy’s bedroom in her suite. She was buried under the covers like a hibernating chipmunk. Kicking his sneakers off, Steve crawled onto the bed and scratched at Darcy’s hair, waking her slowly.

“Whu…what? Who?” Then the smell hit her. The sweet and rich scent of coffee brought her up short and her eyes opened wide. “Steve! You brought me coffee?”

He just smiled and pressed a kiss to her head as she snatched the coffee away and greedily drank from the cup. Steve chuckled and lay back against the pillows, sipping his own brew.

“I don’t know how to thank you for this Steve,” Darcy said, sitting up properly and taking another healthy guzzle.

“I can think of ways to properly thank me,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

“Can a girl finish her coffee first?” she asked, hiding a devious smile behind her cup.


	3. Watch Out for That...Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I asked for Tumblr prompts. Captain-Z said: Cap or Bucky meeting Darcy for the first time. I said, OK.

“I can’t look at that thing any longer! Jane, if you want to stay here and help him, fine. But I can’t do it.” Darcy grabbed her messenger bag and while she was slinging it over her shoulder, she began backing towards the door. It wasn’t until she heard the “Oooof” that she learned just how weird her life was going to get.

Upon turning around, Darcy saw two men, one blond, one dark-haired, and the blond was bent over, cupping his balls. The dark man started laughing out loud while the blond man just took deep breaths.

“Hey, Dollface, I’m James Barnes, and you just made Steve’s month. Probably all the action your nuts had in…ever?”

The man named Steve looked up at James Barnes, and if looks could kill, Barnes would be a grease spot on the floor.

“Steve…oh God, I just hit Captain America in the balls with my bag…fuck my life.” Darcy dropped said bag on the floor, and went to where Steve stood, but he took a step back, holding his hand up.

“I’m fine, ma’am,” he assure her, very officially sounding.

“I’m Darcy. Really, I’m sorry.”

“Well, punk, looks like you found yourself another feisty brunette. Don’t dawdle asking this one out.”

Bucky used his left arm, gleaming with metal, to clap Steve on the back, then turned and left the lab.

“So, can I…take you for a coffee to say I’m sorry?” Darcy asked.

“Um…if you promise to leave your bag here? Sure.” Steve smiled at her, winked and held his arm out. With a giggle she hadn’t heard from herself in a long time, Darcy made her way out of the lab. Coffee with Captain America. How did this become her life?


	4. On My List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by sheunderstoodhim on Tumblr "Darcy finding his list of things he needs to experience and deciding to help." So...here it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't think up a quick title, so I bastardized Hall & Oats. Hey, they made it to the RnR HOF!

The jacket was in the common room again. It was worn brown leather, and it looked buttery soft. Darcy never liked wearing leather jackets. The ones for ladies weren’t warm enough, barely thick enough to block a spring breeze, much less a Philly suburban winter wind. And the ones to keep you warm were so heavy, she could barely stand up straight. And she had enough weight in front that kept her back aching by lunch time.

But that jacket called out to her. She knew Steve never left his things around, but he must have come in and ran right to the lab to speak to Tony. Or into a meeting with Hill, who was working through SI to try and reorganize SHIELD meaningfully.

It still had the smell of fresh leather, but felt well-worn. Darcy looked down the spiral staircase, then up to make sure no one was coming, and slipped the super-soft jacket onto her shoulders. The first thing that caught her was the scent of Old Spice. It would make sense that Steve would wear an aftershave like that. She would have to teach him about skin care. Then she caught the smell of Ivory soap, that pure soap smell. Another lesson in skin care.

Darcy slipped her hands into the pockets and tried to feel them, the way Steve would feel the insides of the pockets. The cloth was soft and felt as if he kept his hands in those pockets the entire time he wore the jacket. Darcy pulled her hands up, as if to hug herself with his arms, something she thought about at night, that she told no one about. Then she felt it. Just a corner, but it poked her left hand. She reached into the inner left pocket and pulled out a small Moleskine book. The brown cover looked well-used, and inside was Steve’s distinctive block printing. Darcy smiled, thinking back to when Steve was a kid in school, like her grandparents, they taught everyone how to write the same way, and everyone’s handwriting looked the same, Palmer script. Except the block printing.

The list consisted of things Steve had missed over the years that seemed very important. Things like “I Love Lucy”, Thai food, and disco, of all things. Nope, this would not do. Darcy stuffed the book back into Steve’s pocket and put the jacket down as she found it. Thoughts swirled in her head about how she would handle what Steve would need as she made her way down to the lab where her personal computer was sitting. He had an iPhone, so she could hack into the account and add the things SHE knew he needed. Like, the entire Beatles catalog, of course every episode of “I Love Lucy”, and then things he really needed. The Star Wars Trilogy, the original three, not the later films. Steve needed a better basis for Jar Jar Binks.

“Darcy, what are you doing?” Jane asked from across the lab. Darcy looked up from her laptop screen, realizing she’d been sitting there for hours crafting playlists for Steve on his iTunes so when he synced his iPhone, the songs would automatically upload.

“Oh, um…research? I guess…” Darcy bit her lower lip, trying to keep from babbling on about how she was going to singlehandedly bring Captain America all the missing information he needed.

“Personal?” Jane asked, eyes brows rose almost to her hairline.

“Just…trust me.”

*-*-*-*

Steve walked into the gym while looking down at his iPhone questioningly. Clint landed beside him, double back-flip performed perfectly. “Hey, Cap, technology got you down, Bro?”

Steve looked at his teammate and held out the offending item. “It’s all…different. I put some music on it, but it’s got WAY more stuff on it now. And I didn’t put it there.”

“Hacked?” Clint asked, as he took the item into his hand to swipe through the lists. He saw the things Steve had been writing in his book and then something he knew as soon as he saw it.

“Go to Dr. Foster’s lab and ask her assistant. Darcy would know how this happened.”

Steve’s left eyebrow shot up. “How would she know?”

“Imagine Dragons. Trust me.”

Steve shrugged. He trusted his team. He was always honest with them, they knew it. He wouldn’t expect anyone to be less with him.

After a shower, Steve wandered down to the astrophysics lab where Jane was crunching data on her computer, looking back and forth between her printouts and her star maps.

“Dr. Foster, is Darcy around?” Steve asked.

Jane didn’t look up, but motioned with her head to the side desk. Darcy was working on recreating the latest drawings Jane had made by hand on the computer. Her massive monitor hid her head and shoulders from sight, but Steve could hear her fingers clicking away.

“Um, Darcy?” he asked. She looked past her monitor, curls flying and glasses sliding down her face.

//Uh oh…he knows//

“Yes, Cap? Can I help you?”

“Oh, well…I um…” Steve had harbored the worst, and best, crush on Darcy. And he needed to remember bravery is being afraid and doing what you must anyway. “So, I’ve been trying to catch up on things I’ve missed, and things people have told me I should know about. And even though I liked science fiction as a child, I…would you help me with the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek?”

There was a hint of blush in Steve’s cheeks, but it didn’t match Darcy’s blush. Her cheeks were as red as her lipstick.

“Oh, I…sure. I have to finish…”

“It’s OK, Darcy!” Jane called out. “I don’t need that map tonight. I’ll probably have changes for it in the morning. You can go and help the good captain. I’m fine.” Jane smiled as she went back to her work.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at Jane briefly, before turning to smile at Steve. “I just got some time off. How about a marathon?” she asked.

“Um, sounds good. And you can help me with some things on my phone, since I don’t know how this stuff got here.”

“Oh that…” Darcy began explain before the door to the lab closed and Jane couldn’t hear the rest of the answer.

Several hours later, with Clint in tow, Jane went to check on Darcy and Steve in the media center. There weren’t regular cinema seats in the room. It was more like a large rumpus room, with piles of bean bag chairs, large couches, and a couple of queen-sized-bed-like couches that were more like day beds for slumber parties. This where Steve and Darcy were lounging, curled together, watching the ending of the second of the rebooted Star Trek films. Darcy was trying to get Steve to make the Vulcan hand sign for live long and prosper, but he wasn’t quite getting it. Or he was faking it to let Darcy touch him.

Jane backed out and closed the door, turning to Clint with arms crossed over her chest.

“You knew about his, Clint?” she asked.

“He asked me about his phone. And as soon as I saw that song she’s always singing in the gym, ‘Radioactive’ on his playlist called ‘lately’, I knew it was her adding things to his phone. JARVIS must have helped her.”

“Afirmative, Mr. Barton.” Jane smiled up at the ceiling and then at Hawkeye.

“So, the famed Avenger marksman teamed up with a snarky computer to bring two lonely people together. How rom-com of you!” Jane giggled.

“I try.”


	5. I Don't Care, I Love It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve has a dry sense of humor, and is pretty flippant. Mostly people know that he's joking, but some people still don't know him that well. And that can lead to all kinds of problems!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a prompt by ambystomatidchanterelle "Darcy takes Steve's flippancy personally (regarding emotions, Jane, having a life, her own importance to the Avengers, you pick) and confronts him, argument ensues.
> 
> You ask, I provide. Thank you, Emyrldlady, for helping me with the details!

The opening notes of the organ floated through the wide open space of Tony’s workshop, and then the golden tones of David Coverdale’s voice filled the air, singing “Here I Go Again”. Tony stood up from where he was crouched, working on one of the brand new suits that contained its own mini arc reactor. He looked around to see who would put such offensive music on his speakers, when he saw her.

 

Darcy was wearing a mid-thigh-length kilt in Royal Stewart colors, a white t-shirt with a Union Jack on it and Doc Martins. Yep, it was 80’s day. She was dancing in the open space, not so much to excite him, but she had some nervous energy she needed to work off. He could see it in her as she typed in his notes, but not using a chair, just standing at the tall worktable.

 

It was kinda fun, watching someone so young and free just be young and free. Although, she was getting a little friendly with Dummy, with very specific hip grinds against his main support strut.

 

“Are you grinding on my bot to White Snake?” he shouted over the music. “Don’t do that to him! He’s just a kid! You’re getting way too rapey with my robots, young lady!”

 

Darcy laughed hard, full mouth open showing white teeth against rich red lipstick. The song slowly ended and then something Tony didn’t know came on, a new song, women singing about driving a car into a bridge and throwing some guy’s shit down the stairs.

 

“Come on, old man, dance with me!” Darcy yelled and grabbed Tony’s hand to pull him into the middle of the empty space. She jumped and spun and shook her hips to the music around a very still Tony. She slowed in front of him, and a breeze of her perfume and the scent of her shampoo wafted over Tony. She smelled of Marc Jacobs’ Daisy and Redken conditioner. She grabbed his hands, all soft warm palms holding fast.

 

“Dance, fucker!” she screamed. “No one’s watching you!”

 

And so Tony danced. There was a slower bit in the middle about someone being from the seventies, like Tony, and Darcy proudly proclaimed, “But I’m a Nineties Bitch!” This made Tony laugh out loud. Darcy spun to face away from him and leaned her shoulders back against Tony’s chest, still moving to the beat, and without thinking, Tony grabbed her waist and followed her moves. She was so young and energetic, it was difficult not join in on the fun.

 

They didn’t know that they actually did have an audience.

 

*-*-*-*

 

Steve stood back, watching the tableau unfold in front of him, and he wanted to laugh and smile at Darcy’s antics. She was on his mind more and more lately, and he knew he should just come out with it and tell her he liked her.

 

After SHIELD fell, he lost track of Kate or Sharon or whatever her name was. Beth was long history. But Darcy was there, always wearing the white wire headphones, always dancing or singing something. But Jane had disappeared to Asgard with Thor, royal business, and Jane wasn’t going to turn down the chance to learn more about Asgardian toys and how she could use that technology to help Earth.

 

He fell in love with her the moment he saw her making Bruce laugh so hard that he snorted tea out of his nose. No one made Bruce laugh. They either tried to keep him calm, or steered clear of him. But Darcy would get right in his face, knowing when he needed food, like Jane. But why was she in Tony’s lab? And why was she dancing around with Tony in a very suggestive manner?

 

It struck Steve as strange that Tony would engage in this behavior with Darcy when he was engaged to Pepper. Then he remembered that Pepper was in California, conducting the final meetings before the offices of Stark Industries moved into Stark Tower for good. Tony was done with California.

 

And here Tony was, in New York, dancing with the girl he wanted to be dancing with. Well, no time like the present to find out. Steve stepped into the lab and began slow clapping, something he’d learned was very sarcastic these days.

 

“Turning the lab into a dancehall, I like that idea, Stark,” Steve said, walking towards them as the song ended. “Think we could put one of those mirror balls up? I read about those. They look like fun.”

 

Darcy sighed heavily. “Want a coffee, Tony?” she asked.

 

“Yeah, and get one for our elderly friend. Decaf.” Darcy smirked and left the workshop, to go to the upstairs common kitchen. Both men watched her go. JARVIS didn’t start another song, because Darcy had been controlling the music.

 

“So, you have a new assistant, Tony?” Steve asked.

 

“What’s it to you?” Tony asked. Oh, he knew why Steve was asking. He just wanted Steve to say it out loud. Tony had watched these two dance around each other for weeks. And maybe he had a little yenta in him, he wanted to get them together. “So, capybara, what brings you down here?”

 

“Oh, I was coming down to keep you company, like I’ve been doing. You know, check in like Pepper asked me to. Did Pepper speak to Darcy? Or doesn’t she know that you have a young woman half your age strutting around in an outfit that would have been on tour with me for war bonds?”

 

“Pepper knows. She doesn’t care.” Tony decided to play coy. See where this bus crashed.

 

“Oh, I’m sure she would have cared if she’d seen you dancing like that.”

 

“You jealous, Bomb Pop?” Tony asked, point blank, because being coy was never his strong suit.

 

“Well, do I have anything to be jealous of? Are you…what term do the kids use these days…tapping that? That’s what they say, right? Then again, I’m kinda old, I may be getting this wrong.”

 

Steve was actually smirking. He learned to be a wiseass very well.

 

“No, Tony is not ‘tapping this,’ you geriatric jackass! What makes you think that just because we were dancing that I’m disrespecting Pepper like that? Or do you think that all young women who wear kilts are sluts?”

 

“I…uh…weren’t you getting coffee?” Steve asked.

 

“I came back to ask if Tony wanted food, too. So, what’s your fucking problem?” Darcy demanded.

 

“I…you…um, I still can’t get over ladies swearing, sorry. I just…I was teasing Tony.” The apples of Steve’s cheeks pinked up.

 

“At my expense? Oh, nice, Captain Asshat! Way to respect women. Anyone who thinks that because you’re real old that you have more manners is really mistaken.”

 

Darcy turned to leave the room, but Steve reached out and grabbed her arm. She spun around and swiped his arm off her with her forearm and moved to kick out his legs, like Natasha taught her, but Steve jumped up and back, to keep his balance.

 

“OK, time out, you two!” Tony shouted. “This is going nowhere. Tinker Bell, you calm down. And Cap, just talk to her. JARVIS!”

 

“Sir?” came the disembodied voice from the ceiling speakers.

 

“Don’t let these two out until they kiss. And I mean a big boy-big girl kiss. Not just a peck on the cheek.”

 

Tony walked out of the room and waited to hear the glass doors lock. Then he left the area completely.

 

Darcy stood with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at Steve. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels, looking down. Steve took a deep breath and blew it out his nose.

 

“I was rude, and I’m sorry. I didn’t think that about you…well, if I DID think that about you, I would think it would be Tony leading you astray. And I’m sorry for thinking that, too.”

 

Darcy pursed her lips and nodded, looking around the workshop. “Ok, apology accepted. Sorry I called you a geriatric jackass and Captain Asshat.”

 

They both looked around the workshop. “So…what should we do now?” he asked. The look on his face was part clueless captain, part naughty schoolboy.

 

“You know, for a master military strategist, the Star Spangled Man with the Plan, you really are stupid.” Darcy walked over to Steve and grabbed his around the neck, pulling him down to kiss him. He was surprised for a moment, then he leaned into the kiss, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against him tightly. Steve leaned back, pulling Darcy up on his chest, then setting her down on the floor.

 

“Wow, that was nice,” she breathed out.

 

“If you think that was good, wait until I bring you home after a date.”

 

“Are you asking me out?” she said.

 

“Yeah. If JARVIS will let us out.”

 

“I believe you have fulfilled sir’s request.” The door clicked and slid open. “You may leave.”

 

*-*-*-*

 

Tony stood in the communal kitchen, eating a sandwich and watching the scene before him on a video screen in the wall. Clint came in and said, “So, did they kiss?”

 

“Yep.” Tony reached into his pocket and handed Clint the $100 bill. “How’d you know?”

 

“I know things. Cuz…vents…”


	6. Here's Lookin' at You, Captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An anonymous prompt "Darcy and Steve watching old movies together and talking about his past" and my boss just got back from Morocco. He stayed at the Sofitel Casablanca. So this cropped up. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to give Steve some dancing chops, especially since apparently Chris Evans can cut a mean rug! He challenged Anthony Mackie, so there you go. Doncha love who teaches him how to dance! :)

Darcy watched as Steve came around the coffee table to the couch with a massive bowl of popcorn, impressed that he’d tossed it with the butter and Old Bay seasoning like she’d mentioned once, in passing. Steve remembered everything she said, and was once of the most thoughtful boyfriends she’d ever had. After having read about him ages ago, she knew that his good memory had been enhanced by the serum, so his memory was almost eidetic. That must have been a heartache remembering his past perfectly, but everyone was gone.

He said it helped to talk about it, so she listened. It was a new experience for her, just listening, not chiming in, and not giving her wise-ass take on things, but it was what she knew he needed. And she needed to let this part of herself develop, the adult friend, the one who friends felt they could lean on, not the one doing the leaning. And it was awesome learning about Steve’s life, and life in New York post WW1 and pre WW2.

He placed two beers on the coffee table and the bowl between them, then sat down. Darcy felt the heat radiating from Steve’s body, and loved it. She was raised in Pennsylvania and wasn’t a stranger to cold winters, and hated the cold. She curled up against Steve’s chest and sighed. 

“So, what’s the movie tonight? Something from our list?” she asked.

“No, this is from my time. Have you ever seen ‘Casablanca’?” he asked, giving her his patented half grin and raised eyebrow. It always made her smile.

“Honestly, who hasn’t seen ‘Casablanca’?”

“Oh…well, it’s a really great film…”

“Steve, it’s OK! I love ‘Casablanca.’ Bogie and Bergman, in the end, the lovers win. Yes, let’s watch it.”

Darcy pulled her feet up under her and curled up with Steve as the film started. Since they both knew the movie, Steve had seen it three times when it was released, he told her about what it was like at war, in Paris, in London and all over Europe during the war. 

“You really learned how to hot wire a car?” she asked.

“It was easier once upon a time. Now, it’s all computers in the engine. Used to be two wires. I was pretty good at it.”

“Captain America, miscreant! Who knew?”

“My guys knew. Hey, the stories about me being a paragon of virtue are widely exaggerated.”

“Oh, I know. You’re bad. I mean, I’ve slept with you! Most people don’t know that Captain America is a concept and that Steve Rogers is the man. And you, my dear, are a bad, bad man!”

The scene of ‘Casablanca’ came where the patrons of Rick’s began to sing La Marseillaise and Steve began to sing along in perfect French. He looked over and saw the tear trickling down the side of her face, and stopped singing.

“You OK, doll?” he asked.

“That part always gets me. It’s like, one of the defining moments, you know? When everyone remembers why they’re in Casablanca in the first place. To get away from those Nazi assholes. And the one woman who was drinking with them, and the guy gets her to remember who she is, and where she came from. And what they did to her country, so that she had to flee.”

“It was a terrible time.”

“My great-grandmother was in the camps. She was freed by Americans. But she was never the same. Only had my grandfather, her only child. It used to be a huge deal at Passover, recounting the stories of escaping, the war ending. Now, we just tell a story about how much we loved her. She lived to be 103. Bubba was very special.”

“I’m sorry about your family. But that’s why all this happened with me. I couldn’t stand by and let good men die to save people who did nothing wrong.”

“My family thanks you.”

The two kissed, and Steve leaned down to kiss away the tracks of her tears. They shared a long, deep kiss, through several breaths. Darcy’s sweet smell enveloped him completely, her bubblegum cologne, her cherry lip gloss and strawberry shampoo. “You smell so good, I could eat you up.”

“Oh Captain, you’ll have to wait until the movie is over. Or were you a naughty boy, necking in the back of the theater?”

Steve chuckled. “No one did that at the films I visited. Then again, back in the day, I was thinking about the films, or the war. And maybe dancing with a girl. Most of ‘em…”

“I know, didn’t want to step on you. I gotta say, those youtube videos you been watchin’, Cap, they got you shakin’ your booty like you were born to dance. How’d you really learn all that?” Darcy tried to do that eyebrow thing that Steve could do so easily, where he would lower his face and look at you through his long lustrous lashes and raise the one brow at you. It was one of the most disapproving looks in the world, and Steve knew it was effective. But on Darcy, it just made her more irresistible to him.

Steve leaned down and kissed Darcy’s lips, then smiled like a guilty little boy.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he said.

“Of course. I can’t promise I won’t laugh, but I won’t tell.”

“Um…I got some dancing lessons.” Steve felt the blush starting.

Darcy’s eyes popped open wide. “Really? Natasha, right? You got Natasha to teach you how to dance!”

“Nope.”

“Not Clint, he’s like an awkward newborn giraffe on a freshly waxed floor. Not Tony, he’d have had JARVIS upload the videos on youtube…and hacked every cable station and interrupt CSI and SVU with the video. Who…”

“I have an unusually avid fan. You may know who he is.”

“Who is it?!” Darcy jumped to her knees on the couch and grabbed Steve’s shoulders, shaking him. “Tell me!”

“It was Justin Timberlake!” Steve said, laughing. “He invited me out with his friends when the team was in Los Angeles, and he showed me how to move, how to dance. He showed me how to move my muscles and how to count a beat. It was an interesting night.”

“Oh My God!” she shouted and stood on the couch, jumping up and down. “That’s like…Fred Astaire teaching you to dance back in your day! That’s awesome!”

Steve was laughing as Darcy jumped around laughing. Then, gunshots on the screen drew their attention, and Darcy fell to Steve’s side. They watched the big scene, where Rick makes Elsa get on the plane. Steve put his arm around Darcy’s shoulders and pulled her close to him. As the film ended, Steve turned Darcy’s face to him and kissed her again.

“What do you say we take this someplace more comfortable?” he asked, stroking the soft skin of her cheek.

“Here’s lookin’ at you, Captain,” she said, and waggled her eyebrows.

“Oh, that was bad!”


	7. The Only Way He Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is caught in the crossfire of Tony's sciencing on no sleep. Steve is not pleased. Tony does the best he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, much thanks to my beta and bestie, Emyrldlady, who helps me with my stories, titles and even let's me help her! After you read my story, read her stuff!!

“Do you really need to go to Mount Graham to look at the sky?” Tony asked. He was using a long-handled screw driver on a piece of equipment.

“Because the sky here has too much junk in it, Tony. Plus, it’s the biggest telescope in the continental US. So, sign the form so she can charge it on her company card and we can get out there.” Darcy was checking out her nail polish for chips, so she wasn’t really paying attention to what Tony was doing with another piece of his suit. She only knew she wanted out of there as fast as she could. Tony working in weapons development was never a good thing.

“Fine, Hot Lips, I’m signing the form. Why didn’t you get Pepper to sign this? Or Pepper’s assistant? Or someone who isn’t as busy as I am?” Tony asked, scribbling his name on the signature line.

“Because they’re all busy doing real work. Not playing with their toys.”

“Just try and get some of your own work done today,” Tony sassed back, and wasn’t watching his piece of equipment. He was looking at Darcy. “Don’t you want to know what I’m doing?”

“No, I want to get out of here. All done?” she asked, looking around the room.

“Yes, go on. But you may want to see my experiment. This repulsor is going to vaporize the target!”

Darcy heard the word vaporize and walked twice as fast. She knew that if Tony was sciencing for more than 48 hours without sleep, which he had, he wasn’t as sure of what he was doing as he thought. She hurried over to the first exit door, using her cardkey to open it. There was a second outer door she needed to go through, where the rest of the weapons research was happening, less explosive stuff, but she still wanted out. She was almost across the room, putting her cardkey against the reader, but she heard it. The tell-tale sound of Tony’s repulsor firing. The doors opened but she didn’t have enough time to run. The explosion was loud, but the blackness came down and she was gone.

*-*-*-*

Steve was sitting in a meeting with the Board of Directors of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts, and key members of the new SHIELD, now a fledgling agency. Coulson, May and Triplett were working overtime to liaise with the Avengers and SI to build the agency again, to do it the right way, the way that was intended from the beginning.

The explosion could be heard thirty stories down, and Steve could feel the minute shaking in the building’s structure. He shook his head. So this was why Tony was missing his own meeting. He’d called the meeting to talk to Coulson in front of the board, wanting to flex his muscles in some fashion or another. But his experimenting got in the way of his responsibilities. True, his repulsor technology needed some updating but not at the detriment of the rest of his duties as Tony Stark.

Steve was just finishing a sentence, replying that he hoped the partnership between the Avengers and SI would be beneficial to the new SHIELD and hopefully keep the danger to a minimum. Just then, the table shook with the explosion and the alarm began to blare.

“Captain Rogers, you are needed at the accident site, Weapons R&D, please,” came the voice of JARVIS, causing Steve to jump out of his chair. He was wearing a shirt and slacks, not quite business attire, but he wasn’t comfortable spending all day in his uniform, just doing day-to-day things. At the moment, he was regretting that decision.

Steve didn’t bother with the elevator, taking the stairs up three at a time. The heat of fear crawled up his back. He hurried to the floor where he could smell smoke and hear the chaos on the other side of the stairwell door. He stopped and took a breath, preparing himself for what he saw. But there was nothing he could do, no breathing or mind-calming exercise he could do that would prepare him for the tableau before him.

In slow motion, he watched medics from the infirmary working on Darcy, who was unconscious and bleeding from her back. They were checking her airway and preparing IVs for both arms. Steve’s heart stopped a moment, and he was glued to the spot. His breath left him entirely. Then he remembered, and he began to move towards the scene, when two steel bands came around his body in the form of Thor’s arms.

“Nay, Captain, let the healers work on Darcy. There is naught we can do now but pray for her. I am sure she will be fine when they finish their work.” Thor’s soothing voice calmed Steve a moment and he looked around, seeing the entire team flanking him, Jane and Pepper as well, Coulson bringing up the rear with his own team, weapons drawn.

“Do we have sit-rep?” Coulson asked, taking charge. Clint looked at his former boss, nodding.

“Weapons malfunction in Tony’s deep lab.” Everyone stepped back as the EMTs loaded Darcy onto a gurney, face down, and started rolling her into the elevator that JARVIS held for them. The AI was intelligent enough to close the doors and move the car before Thor let Steve go.

“Anyone know how Tony is?” Bruce asked.

“He’s fine, down in the infirmary, walked himself,” Clint reported. “He dove under his table. He juiced up his gauntlet repulsors and tested it without warning. It sent shrapnel into the outer lab where they were working with explosives. The explosives themselves weren’t volatile until bits of hot metal fell into the beaker. Darcy was already at a run when the shower of glass hit her. If she had still been in the lab, we would be planning a funeral.”

Everyone turned to Clint and Natasha elbowed him. “Hey, I gave us good news. She just has some glass in her. And not that deeply from what I heard them saying. She may not need a lot of stitches, just a lot of rest. Thor, take Steve down to the infirmary, he can watch them work on her.”

Clint went into the destroyed lab, checking on the other techs who had minor cuts and burns being worked on by other EMTs. Thor let go of Steve and, with the group gathered behind him, went to the second open elevator that would take them to the infirmary.

*-*-*-*

Steve stood at the window, much like he had when he watched Fury’s surgery, but this time it was his fiancé. All of her jewelry had been removed, and Steve was holding her diamond ring so tightly in his hand, the diamond setting was poking into his palm. The surgeon worked painstakingly on removing all of the glass shards from Darcy’s back, neck and scalp. He’d had to shave her scalp in some places, which was going to make her freak out, he knew, but it needed to be done.

The room was kept cool, because anyone watching was bound to be overheated from worry and stress, but Steve didn’t really feel it. He was numb, lips tingling like they had gone to sleep. His arms hung like lead and his legs were stiff with lack of movement, back straight as a pole. He couldn’t get his thoughts to stop swirling around: what if she had been inside the lab with Tony? What if the glass shards were larger? What if she was walking towards the lab instead and the glass had hit her face?

Footsteps sounded behind him, too softly for others to hear, but Steve’s hearing was so acute, he could hear the very expensive, custom-made sneakers stopping beside him.

“I would have been here sooner, but I was getting checked out by medical,” came the words of the man who caused the accident. “And I’m fine, thanks for asking. No one would tell me how she’s doing.”

Only silence came from the larger man.

“Look, I’m…I’m sorry. I know, I shouldn’t be testing things when there are other people in the lab. I didn’t sleep enough, and I’m sorry for that, too. I just…I didn’t think I would cause a chain reaction like that. I know, I should take more precautions, but you can’t think I wanted this to happen.”

More silence. Steve gripped the ring so hard, he bent the prongs and one poked through the palm of his hand.

“Look, I’m not totally to blame here. I mean, I know, I should have gone to the meeting, not played with my suit…”

“I…I…I…is that all you have to say?! This isn’t about you, Tony! THIS is about Darcy! I don’t care about your explanations or apologies! None of it is going to heal Darcy any faster! Don’t you want to know how she is? Well, she’s going to be OK, but she needs blood, which they’re getting her. And she has portions of her scalp that are shaved. Which is going to crush her. And all you care about is your involvement.”

“Hit me, if you want to.”

“If I take a swing, I’m gonna wallop you good, Tony. And I won’t give you a chance to go get the suit.”

“Look, I didn’t…”

“And you’re still thinking only of yourself! You know, I never comment about how you act or live your life. But when it comes to the safety of others, you are the most self-centered, asinine bastard I ever met in my life. And unless we’re needed to assemble, stay the hell away from me.”

Steve left the observation room swiftly, walking past the elevator and into the stairs. Tony didn’t follow, but stayed watching the surgeon and nurses work on Darcy. Tony didn’t know how much time passed as he stood there, until he felt two small, cool hands on his shoulders.

“Tony, come sit down,” Pepper said quietly behind him. She pulled him away to sit in the chairs on the opposite wall. Tony just shook his head, not wanting to hear what she was saying, that it wasn’t his fault. But it was. And he needed to be sorry, without it being about him. He needed to make amends without it being about him, his company, his tower, anything about him.

Abruptly, Tony stood up and said, “I’m…gonna go make coffee. I’ll be OK, by myself.”

He didn’t wait to hear what Pepper was saying. Maybe it was the way Steve yelled at him, or Pepper was so kind to him, but Tony just wanted out of the room and up in his own kitchen. Not the common kitchen, not where he could run into someone who would judge him. He wanted to be alone.

That posed a problem in and of itself. He stood before his coffee maker, a prototype from the appliance division of Stark Industries, and sighed. He truly had been awake too long.

“JARVIS, please put up a hologram and walk me through how to use this thing.”

“Of course, sir.”

*-*-*-*

Steve sat beside Darcy’s bed, listening to the machines whir and the hiss from the oxygen cannula under her nose. She still had both IVs in her arms, one giving her fluids and meds, one giving her blood. Steve held her hand, and just stared at her. His eyes were red-rimmed, but he wasn’t crying any longer. And when the door opened and someone pulled a chair up beside him, Steve controlled himself, not to turn and punch the person sitting down. The heat rose up his back, prickled along his scalp and Steve had to take several deep breaths to calm himself.

Into his field of vision, a coffee cup was thrust. It contained a frothy mixture that Steve didn’t drink. But there it was, in Tony’s hand, and he was ignoring the reality again.

“It’s a cappuccino. I thought you could use it.”

Steve snorted. “Another ‘cap’ joke, huh?”

“No, just coffee. I thought you would like it. If you don’t want it, whatever you do want…”

Steve reached out, took the cup, downed the contents in one go and put it back on the saucer that Tony still held.

“Thank you,” Steve ground out.

“You’re welcome. It’s Italian, you know. You didn’t spend much time there, in Italy, during the war. Now, there’s time to do that, you know.”

Steve’s silence was deafening.

“So, my mother loved cappuccinos. She would make them all the time, and occasionally, my father would take her to Tuscany to sit in little cafes and sip cappuccinos and eat pastries. She always said it was the most romantic he’d ever gotten. You know anything about Tuscany?”

Not even the muscle in Steve’s jaw twitched.

“It’s beautiful. Picturesque. Hills and fields, farms, vineyards, sheep and cows and little old men with crooked sticks that shooed them along the roads. Perfect place to sit with a picnic lunch on a checkered cloth and sip wine, eat fresh made sandwiches, paint or draw, read a book. Darcy loves to read, doesn’t she?”

Giving in just a little, Steve nodded.

“OK, good. It’s all arranged. When you’re ready, and your girl is feeling better, you take her to Tuscany. You decide where to stay, how to get there, how to get around. You stay as long as you want, you do what you want. Whatever Darcy wants. If you want to visit Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice. Or if you want to go to Paris, or London, or Berlin, Amsterdam, you go. You take your girl and you go.”

“And if business comes up…”

“It will be handled. And you won’t need to worry. You can be confident in your team. If you can believe in…all of us.”

There was a pause. Steve’s head tilted down, and Tony could see his baby blues flicking across the blanket, while he was considering his options.

“Darcy’s going to have a bit of a road to recovery. Trust needs to be reestablished. I figure, by the time she’s able to travel, we should be good.”

Tony stood and said, “Good. You let Pepper know when you’re ready.”

He stood and left Steve alone with Darcy.

*-*-*-*

Steve smiled to himself.

“Take the deal,” came the whisper from the bed.

Steve looked up to see Darcy with half open eyes and a half smile on her mouth. Steve stood and kissed her gently.

“How bad you feeling?” he asked softly.

“Oh, like I could use a little more morphine,” she said, and Steve hit the self-administer button for her. She smiled again. “Thank you.”

“So, you want to go to Italy?” he asked.

“Yes. And forgive Tony. He wouldn’t have hurt me if he could have helped it.”

Steve nodded. It would take a while, but he knew he would forgive Tony. He had to, they were a team. But he knew he would never forget it, and neither would Tony.

“He can’t buy forgiveness, you know.”

“It’s the only way he knows.”

Steve pressed a kiss to her temple, because she was right.

“Tell me a story,” Darcy whispered.

“OK.” Steve gently got on the bed and gently pulled Darcy against him. She curled against him, rubbing her cheek against his shirt. “Did I ever tell you about the time I stole a jeep in Germany and I had to hotwire it?”

“Yes, but tell me again.”

“OK. So, when I was sneaking through Nazi Germany…”


	8. I'm Pregnant and It's Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy wants to embarrass Coulson and Clint and...that's when the wheels come off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta, Emyrldlady, who is an awesome writer on her own. I didn't like my original ending, she fixed it! Best editor ever! So, this was an anonymous challenge posted to my Tumblr, http://amazon-x.tumblr.com/ so here you go nonny!

“Is he coming?” Darcy whispered.

“Someone’s coming. I don’t want to look,” Clint whispered back. 

He stood beside her and waited as the footsteps got closer. Then Clint winked and smiled. “Wait, what?”

“I’m pregnant and it’s yours,” she said loudly. There was a loud cough from the hall and Darcy and Clint anxiously waited for Coulson to walk into the group kitchen. They were wrong. Steve rounded the corner, face red from brows to throat, and his eyes were down.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.” Steve turned and left the room quickly, and rather awkwardly. Darcy uttered a curse and bowed her face into her hands.

“Shit, Clint, I told you to look! Oh fuck, this is bad,” she moaned.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Clint said.

“That’s no way to talk to a lady, Clint,” Coulson said, walking in while reading his blackberry.

“Oh, Goddammit!” Darcy shouted.

“What’s going on?” Coulson asked as Clint snickered.

“Darcy owes me a hundred bucks. She bet me she could make you blush when you walked in here today. She got Cap instead.”

“Lovely. Barton, no more bets with the staff. Darcy, I suggest you go find Steve and get him to understand what you were doing.”

“Yeah, I just hope he will.” 

Darcy jumped off the counter top and walked into the lounge. “JARVIS, where’s Captain Rogers?” she asked, quietly.

“In his suite, Miss Lewis.”

“Thanks.”

She went down the central spiral staircase to Steve’s floor, and walked to his door. She took a deep breath before raising her hand to knock on the door. Steve didn’t come to his door right away. It took her knocking again, then calling out to him to please let her in.

It took another moment, but the door was opened and Steve stepped into the doorway. He was still looking down.

“I’m so sorry you got mixed up in that, Steve…”

“No, it’s OK,” he interrupted. “I mean, if you and Clint are going to have personal conversations…”

“No, you got it wrong…”

“Well, it was difficult not to hear what you were discussing. And I thoroughly understand. Women deserve all the liberation they have, and more. And if you want me to help in any way…”

“Steve…”

“I mean, I know you’re a very independent woman, and that you like your freedom, but Clint should really be involved with your child.”

“STEVE!” she shouted. “Let me talk!”

Steve’s eyes went wide and he went quiet immediately.

“OK, now, I’m not really pregnant. We were trying to get Coulson to blush, not you. I bet Clint I could get Son of Coul to turn red and I thought using Phil’s own boyfriend would work. I didn’t actually sleep with Barton, OK? He’s gay. He’s been with Phil for like a while. And Phil is way gay.”

“Wait…that was a joke?” he said, pulling Darcy into the room and closing the door.

“Yes, but not on you. Phil comes into the kitchen at that time every day. As a matter of fact, he was right behind you. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Steve. Really. I’m sorry.”

“So, you’re not dating Clint, and not pregnant with his child…”

“No, not at all. I’m not dating anyone.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” he breathed and then grabbed Darcy’s shoulders to pull her in and kiss her deeply. Darcy was shocked still for a moment, then it hit her what was happening and she wrapped her arms around his neck, sliding one hand into his hair to stroke the soft tendrils at his neck. She felt his tongue poking at her lips and opened her mouth to allow him in. She could feel the excitement clutching in her belly, and yes, Steve was a good kisser.

He pulled back from her, and smiled. “I’m sorry, I had to do that. I’ve been dying to do that since I met you.”

“It’s OK. I wanted you to do that, too, but…I mean, how do you ask, right?”

He swooped down and kissed her again. “I know this is really rude of me, but I can’t stop kissing you.”

“It’s OK, I like it,” Darcy breathed and then pulled him down again. They moved backward to the couch where Steve scooped up Darcy and lowered her to the cushions. She welcomed him on top of her, relishing the feeling of all the hard muscle and long lines of his body. She squeezed his hips between her thighs, and he palmed one of her hips, reaching around to her bottom for a handful. When one hand came up to her breast, Darcy pushed up on Steve’s chest.

“OK, soldier, stand down,” she panted in his ear as he nibbled her earlobe.

Steve pulled back and was panting. “I’m sorry, Darcy,” he said, moving off of her.

“Wait, stop, hold on. I didn’t say get off me. We just need to stop for a minute. Um…do you want to do this?” she asked.

“Kiss? Yes, I thought we were.” Steve dove back to mouth at her neck when Darcy grabbed his face and pulled up.

“You’re pretty handsy for kissing. How far do you want to go? I mean, will we need something so I don’t get pregnant for real?”

“Oh, right, yeah…we should stop now. It’s still morning. So, how about we go out tonight? And then…”

“We’ll see where it goes?” she asked. Darcy had no problem putting out for Steve. She’d put out for lesser men. With a last kiss, Darcy levered up from under Steve and went to the door. “I’ll see you tonight, OK?”

She left the room and flew up the stairs to her room to check her makeup. Waiting on her bed was Clint, who was scrolling through her phone. She snatched it from his hands and then went to the bathroom where she looked over her neck to make sure there weren’t any marks, which there weren’t.

“So, kissing?” Clint said.

“Hey! Get off my bed!” she yelled.

“It’s not made, what do you care?”

“So I kissed him, big deal.”

“Make sure you use these!” Clint tossed a strip of condoms at Darcy before exiting her room. She looked at them carefully. They were purple. 

She turned and threw the strip back at him, shouting, “I’ll get my own, the red, white and blue ones, you fucker!”

“Just make sure you have my money by dinner,” he called back, closing her door.


	9. Captain Caveman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prompt was a meet-cute with Darcy and Sam and Steve getting jealous over it. So, I thought this would be fun! Not beta'd and posted with love!

The giggling is what Steve heard first, then the “ow ow ow!” shouted from the bathroom. Steve grabbed his shield and dashed down the hall. He was not expecting what he found.

Darcy was sitting on vanity counter and Sam was kneeling in front of her, holding her left leg. There was a towel under Darcy’s foot that was resting on Sam’s thigh. One of Sam’s hands was resting on Darcy’s thigh.

“Is everything OK here?” Steve asked. Sure, it was his friend, and his girl, and neither of them ever gave him any reason to doubt their loyalty, but he didn’t even realize they knew each other. Sam had stayed in Washington after the fall of SHIELD to take care of things with the VA and Steve met Darcy in New York when he arrived after recuperating in Washington himself. This was a bit of a shock to his system.

“Hey, man, nice to see you again,” Sam said, then proceeded to pour more Bactine over the large scrape on Darcy’s knee.

“Steve, I got a boo-boo!” Darcy said, and then pouted at the wound on her knee.

“Yeah, Dorothy Hamill here decided she should rollerblade from Bryant Park through afternoon traffic and took a pothole badly. I saw her go flying and tried to help. Found out we were coming to the same place.”

“Yeah, my knight in…terrycloth running shorts,” Darcy said, then whined when more antiseptic was poured on her scrape. 

“Darce, you ok?” Steve asked, propping up his shield on the wall beside Darcy’s discarded skates. Sam stood and took a step back as Steve knelt in his place and examined Darcy’s knee. “You’re going to need to get this looked at in the infirmary, Sweetie. I think there’s gravel in the wound.”

Darcy looked up at him with a watery smile, tears finally running down her cheeks. “Ok, Steve.” Steve scooped her up into his arms and started out of the bathroom, Sam following closely. When they reached the hall to wait for the elevator, Steve turned to Sam and said, “I’m good, you can go.”

“Nah, bro, I can go with you, make sure she’s fine…”

“I will do that, Sam,” Steve said, a little more forcefully than he normally would.

Sam reared back, as if Steve took a swing at him. But he still followed Steve and Darcy into the elevator. Steve didn’t look at Sam as the elevator descended to the infirmary floor. Steve strode purposefully to the nurses’ station and informed the nurse that Darcy had a fall and needed to be looked at. She directed him to an examination room and called the on-duty doctor to the exam area. 

Sam stayed back as Steve carried Darcy into the exam area, behind a milky glass wall, which was pretty much Hulk-proof for those kinds of emergencies. He sat and watched as the doors slid open and Steve disappeared behind the closing smoked-glass doors with Darcy. He sighed and sat to wait to see what would happen.

The doctor walked in, writing on a chart and said, “So, Darcy, tell me what happened?”

“Well, she was skating…” Steve began, but the doctor held up her hand to silence Steve.

“Captain, Darcy is over 18. Can you wait outside, please?” she asked.

“I guess…” he said, shrugging.

“Please,” she answered. “Doctor-patient secrets and all that.”

“Of course, Dr. Martin, you’re right. I’m sorry, I’ll be outside.” Steve nodded and retreated to the sitting area outside of the glass doors, looking back as they closed behind him. He turned around and saw Sam staring up at him, face open and that slight smile he always wore.

“Kicked you out?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, the caveman act didn’t work on her, either. Sorry, man, I just got…”

“Protective, I know. She’s your girl, she’s hurt, and you’re usually in charge. And this time, you weren’t there to protect her. And now, you’re closing the empty barn door. I get it, man.”

Sam held out his hand and Steve took it, shaking it and sitting beside him. They waited in companionable silence for 45 minutes until the doors slid open and an orderly exited, pushing Darcy in a wheelchair, with her left leg propped up and wound with a purple bandage. She had a lollypop in her mouth and held an orange one as well.

“Look, Steve, I got you a lollypop! Your favorite flavor!” She held it out for him, spurring him to move to her, kneeling before her stopped chair. He took the candy from her, then looked up at Dr. Martin who brought up the rear.

“Well, you did the right thing, Captain Rogers. There was embedded dirt and a few pebbles in her knee. She has a couple of stitches, but they’re collagen, so they’ll dissolve into her skin. Just rest and take Tylenol for pain. And Darcy, maybe you should take Steve skating with you next time.”

“I think I’ll just jog along with her,” Steve said. The orderly stepped back and allowed Steve to take the handles of the wheel chair. Sam stood and followed them both to the elevator. “Sam, come up to my place. We’ll get some pizza, have a few beers, Darcy will control the TV and you two can be properly introduced.”

“I would love that. Thank you.”

After settling Darcy on Steve’s couch and returning the wheel chair, as well as ordering pizza and beer through JARVIS, Darcy and Sam began telling Steve-stories instead of watching any movies. Steve sat in his easy chair, eating pizza and drinking beer, which he wouldn’t let Darcy have.

“Do you see how mean he is to me?” Darcy said. “All I want is a damn beer, but no! I have to wait until I’m feeling better.”

“Yeah, well, at least he didn’t get you to throw some guy off a roof, then go grab him up,” Sam said, smiling.

“What? Oh, tell me this story!”

Steve sat back and listened, not interrupting, but enjoying the easy discourse between his friend and his girlfriend. He felt the nagging of jealousy flare up when Darcy reached out and pinched Sam’s cheek. But she turned to Steve and smiled at him, and it was totally different, a smile just for him. And the jealousy died where it started, and Steve laughed to himself. How he could ever think anything other than the best of his friend, and his girl, and then said, “To be fair, Nat loved kicking that weasel off the roof. And Sam, I never doubted you’d snag him.”


End file.
